Cover Story
by FairyTaleLives
Summary: Connor treats Abby to a trip to the fair when she covers for him at work, only it doesn't go exactly as planned. Early Conby Story by SveaR and Cehsja. (Will be 3 Chapters)
1. Chapter 1

He was in huge trouble this time, and he knew it. Connor had unplugged the ADD as a precaution while doing some electrical work to it, and forgotten to plug it in again afterwards. It'd sat unplugged for nearly 24 hours and they'd missed two anomaly alerts. Creatures had come through one of them and spread throughout a park and many people had gotten more than a glimpse at the strange plant-eating giants. It'd taken forever to round them back up. It was fortunate that no one was hurt, but the damage was extensive and the cover story took forever.

So naturally Connor was amazed that he hadn't been called into Lester's office for a lecture at the least yet. He'd spent most the morning dreading being summoned there, but nothing seemed to be happening. He figured Lester was just caught up with the cover story, but by the time 2:00 rolled around he had begun to wonder if Lester wasn't just cooking up some extra huge punishment for him. He trudged to the staff room to grab a cup of coffee, his mind wandering through all the possible upcoming scenarios.

"I'm telling you," he vaguely overheard Stephen saying to Nick as he entered the room. "I've never seen that girl cry before. I mean, I know Lester can be a bit harsh but to have Abby in tears?! I couldn't believe it."

Connor froze in his tracks and whirled around, "What happened?! Where's Abby? Why is she crying?"

"Apparently she felt bad about the detector being unplugged. She went up to confess to Lester that she'd unplugged it to charge her mobile. Figured she'd just plug the mobile in for 10 minutes, enough to make one call to her brother, and then plug it back in. She took the mobile back and forgot."

"What?" Connor stared, stunned. Had he actually plugged it back in then? It was Abby's fault?

"Yeah, Lester screamed at her for over an hour. Stuff about how she could have cost people their lives. Maybe still would if we missed any of the creatures as who knew how long they were out there, all that sort of stuff. He threatened to fire her but in the end he sent her home on a week's suspension."

Connor didn't reply as he turned tail and ran back to the ADD to check the power history. He knew he'd be able to tell if he'd plugged it back in and it'd been unplugged again after that.

* * *

"Abby?" Connor asked as he opened the front door. She didn't respond, but he found her quickly enough, wrapped in a blanket on the sofa and looking somewhat miserable. The TV was on, but her eyes had a faraway look, as though she wasn't really paying attention.

Connor moved to sit next to her. "Abby, why'd you cover for me?"

She glanced at him. "Figured he'd go easier on me than you, I guess. Seeing as how you mess up a lot more. Wasn't counting on him having had no sleep because of the cover story. Man, Connor, I've never seen Lester so mad. The way he was yelling almost took me back to my childhood. Still, no harm done, yeah?"

"No harm done?! Abby! You were suspended! Nick said you were crying!"

Abby frowned, "Nick shouldn't be telling people that! I don't want everyone to know!"

Connor put an arm around her shoulder, tentatively. "Abs, come on, we'll go back to the ARC and I'll tell Lester it was me, okay?"

She shook her head. "No, Con, thanks, but I've already been yelled at, why should you get yelled at too? It'd just make me covering for you a waste, wouldn't it? Besides, it's fine. I used to cover for Jack all the time too, I'm used to it."

"It's not fine, you cried." Connor ignored the warning glance Abby shot him, "I don't want you to cover for me. I'm old enough to be responsible for my mistakes." Abby's expression faltered and Connor went on before she could get the wrong idea. "I appreciate that you covered for me, really, but Abby I don't want you to get hurt for something I've done wrong. I lo-" Connor stopped mid-word, his face turning bright red and he felt Abby stiffened in his arm.

"I-I," he stuttered a few times, desperately searching for something else to say rather than the actual sentence he was about to blurt out. "I just don't want people to hurt you. And you shouldn't be used to it," He finished, rather lamely from his view point.

With a small amount of amazement, Connor noticed that Abby hadn't pushed his arm away when he had been about to say the "L" word. Instead, she now relaxed back into his touch and leaned her head against his shoulder. For a while they sat in silence.

"Let's go to the fair, my treat." Connor announced suddenly and was on his feet instantly.

Abby looked at him surprised, "Why?"

"Because you've wanted to go there since its opened, and I want you to have some fun after you landed in trouble for me." He offered her his hand, to help her get up from the sofa. "It's the least I can do."

Abby took his offered hand and stood, her eyes meeting his. For a moment they both stayed silently still, reading in each other's eyes all the unspoken things that neither of them were brave enough to voice out loud. They confirmed with each other that they were okay. Abby read the words that Connor had stopped saying mid-word and Connor read that it was for this same reason that she'd protected him to begin with. Their silent conversation ended quickly as Abby ducked her head and they lost eye contact. She pulled her hand from his and then nodded, "In that case, I'd love to go! Aren't you supposed to be at work though?"

Connor shrugged, "I left as soon as I found out what happened. If Lester thinks he can treat you like that and keep me there still, he's badly mistaken."

"It was my fault that he thought I'd unplugged it."

"I don't care! He could've suspended you without that much yelling at least. If he made you cry then he obviously took it too far."

"I do wish you'd stop bringing that up. I'm not exactly proud of my little breakdown, Con."

"Sorry," he apologized, giving her a quick hug. "I just don't like it, is all."

"I'm fine, Con, really. I'm tough. Just because I cried doesn't mean you have to worry about me. But I _do_ want to forget about it, so can we just drop the subject and go now?"

Connor laughed, "Yep, just let me get my wallet."

He dashed up the stairs to grab it with a grin on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Half an hour later they were in line. Connor was digging through his wallet looking for his debit card and Abby knew that his mind was elsewhere because she'd seen him thumb past the card three times already. She just wondered whether he was thinking about the whole crying thing still, or if his mind was, rather, on that thing he'd almost said to her. As her glance fell upon a happy looking couple in the next line over, she wondered for a brief moment what it'd be like, what could have happened if she'd encouraged him to finish that sentence.

She pushed the thought down and chuckled silently to herself as she noted the nervous and worried expression on Connor's face. Reaching over his arm, she retrieved his debit card from his wallet herself and handed it to him. "This the one you're looking for, Con?"

He nodded as he took it, a look of relief passing over his face as they stepped up to the ticket booth.

* * *

"What you wanna do, Abs?" Connor asked when he handed Abby her tickets.

She shrugged and took a look around. "We could wander around a little to see what's all here first?"

Connor nodded his agreement and linked arms with Abby, pushing away the thoughts that had haunted him since his near slip-up earlier. Today would be all about Abby and he was going to relax and have fun with her, even if that meant a wee bit of acting on his part.

They strolled around the carnival, arguing playfully about rides to go on. Eventually Connor gave in and let Abby drag him to the big wheel. "Come on, Con, the view from there will be neat and we get a once-over of the entre fair."

Her face was glowing in excitement when they stepped into the gondola, followed by the couple Abby had sighted earlier. Tension build up between the two friends when the couple sitting opposite from them started kissing before the wheel even began to move. Abby turned her head away and concentrated on a point in the far distance, not able to meet Connor's eyes. A wave of sadness washed over the computer geek as he watched the back of Abby's head. This wasn't at all the way he wanted the evening to be. Silently he wished he hadn't been so close to tell her that he'd love her. For a moment he wished he could take it back, then they would sit here, shooting each other smirking glances over the couple and trying not to laugh until the ride was over.

Abby stared out the window for a bit, avoiding watching the make-out couple at first, but afterwards getting thoroughly caught up in the view of the fair below them. She spotted a giant roller coaster that looked like fun and decided she'd want to ride that one at least a couple times. In her excitement about it, she forgot the couple for half a second and turned to Connor to point it out to him but turning her head, of course, just drew her attention back to the couple. She sighed and glanced at Connor to see if he looked as awkward about it as she felt. To her surprise, he just looked sad. He wasn't looking at their gondola-mates or out the window or even at her now. Rather he was staring at his hands with a faraway look that suggested he wasn't really there with her at all. Instantly she felt bad for having drawn away from him a bit. She tried to catch his eye silently this time, but had no luck. Then suddenly she smirked to herself as she pulled out her mobile and sent him a text, typing in: _Well, this is awkward, isn't it? ;) What do we do now?_

She watched as Connor jumped a bit when his mobile vibrated in his pocket. He grabbed it, still avoiding looking at either her or the couple, as he flipped it open. Then his expression slowly changed into a grin, transforming his face. He finally looked at her, laughter evident in his eyes before he turned away again back to his phone. He played with it for a bit and then started typing something. Abby kept her phone in her hand, waiting for his reply to show up.

_Changed me ringtone and turned it on real loud. Text me again. Anything, don't matter what._

Abby did her best not to laugh, wondering what was going to happen as she typed simply typed in the happy face symbol and sent it to him. Immediately Connor's phone went off and a loud cartoonish voice started screaming at them: _Hello? Helllooooo! You've got a text message waiting for you! You should really answer it. Answer it! Answer it! Go on, answer it! It could be from someone really important! Really REALLY important! Hello? Helllooooo!_

And so it continued over and over as Connor looked out the window and pretended he didn't hear it and Abby chuckled to herself as she eyed the couple out of the corner of her eyes. They looked annoyed at first and then pulled away from each other finally, glaring at Connor. Finally the guy asked him, "Are you gonna answer that?"

Connor glanced at him, as if noticing him for the first time and then shrugged, "Erm, no, not right now. Trying to enjoy the ride with my friend so I'm not gonna sit here texting; that'd just be rude."

At that, Abby did laugh out loud. The couple did not seem as easily amused. "Oh, so it's politer to ruin our peaceful quiet ride with that horrid racquet?!"

Connor exchanged an amused look with Abby before turning to her, "Really? You wanted peace and quiet so you came to a _carnival?!"_

Abby rolled her eyes as if it were the stupidest thing she'd heard. The couple sat the rest of the ride in silence, glaring at them, and Abby and Connor stared right back whileConnor's phone continued on. _Helllooo? It could be really, really important!_

* * *

The moment they were off the ride, Connor turned the phone off and he and Abby broke down laughing hysterically. "C'mon, Con," she urged, "I saw a ride while we were up there I really want to go on. Please?"

Connor nodded and followed her until he saw where she was headed and then he stopped in his tracks. "Abby, that's a roller coaster!"

She looked at him puzzled, "Sure is, Sherlock!"

"Abs that thing goes _upside down_! There's _no way_! I'm not getting on_ that!_" His face had turned white with fear just thinking about it.

"Really?" Abby asked in disbelief, "But Connor, they're my favourite! I really wanted to go on and I don't wanna go by myself. Please!" But she wasn't sure she should be begging him, he looked terrified.

"Abs, I-I just can't," he moaned, looking upset.

Abby was about to respond, to tell him it was fine, they'd go on something else, when the couple they'd angered on the big wheel came walked past. The guy noticed them and laughed, "Awwwww, Geek Boy is scared of the big kid rides!"

"Am not!" Connor retorted, furiously, seeming to overcome his fear with embarrassment, "We're going on it right now actually." He grabbed Abby's hand and marched away from them and into the line up.

"Con," Abby whispered to him once the couple had left them alone again, "We don't have to do this. Forget about him. I bet he'd run scared stiff if he saw a dinosaur. You're much braver. Besides, did you notice that they haven't gotten in line for this ride either?"

Connor looked around and saw she was right, but he shook his head. "Nah, Abs, I'll go on it, for you. You covered for me at work; I can do this for you. Just, you know, I might scream a little."

Abby smiled at him and saw that it was important to him to try, but as they got closer and closer to the front of the line, she noticed the terror coming back into his expression. He was still holding her hand, for friendly support only she told herself, and his grip on her had gotten quite tight. She squeezed his hand tightly as they found it their turn and then she let go so they could climb aboard.

Connor regretted his decision the second the roller coaster started to move.


	3. Chapter 3

One and a half minutes which felt like an eternity later, Connor left the ride feeling completely wobbly and sick to his stomach. He needed to steady himself at the closest wall. With a weak smile, he looked at Abby who returned his gaze with a worried expression. "Con, you look awful," the blonde stated matter-of-factly.

"Thanks, Abs." Connor muttered something inaudible under his breath, followed by a deep sigh as he placed his hands on his knees and coughed, tears springing to his eyes. Connor was absolutely mad at himself. He had wanted this evening to be special for Abby, but at this very moment he had no idea how he'd survive the next few minutes let alone the rest of the night. He longed desperately for his bed. He wanted to lie down until the world stopped spinning.

Abby placed her hand on Connor's back, patting him gently. When he didn't react to her touch, she bent down beside him. "You know we didn't have to go on there, right?"

At her words, he shot up, stumbling slightly due to his sudden movement. The dizzy feeling increased, yet he put on what he hoped would look like a confident expression as he looked down at Abby. "Of course we had to," he managed to say. "This is about you and I'd do anything to make this evening special for you."

Abby, who remained in her position, was at a loss for words, his had touched her too much. She swallowed the lump in her throat and watched as Connor leaned back against the wall and slowly slid to the floor. His face was pale and Abby was truly worried about her friend. A few silent minutes later, Abby had made the decision. She straightened herself up and said, "Connor we're going home." Her look didn't leave any room for objections. With wobbling knees, he stood up and slowly they walked to the car.

Connor felt miserable, not because of the sick feeling in his stomach, but because of the fact that_ he_ was the reason they had to go home only twenty minutes after they arrived. "I'm sorry I ruined your evening."

"You didn't, Con," Abby told him earnestly.

" 'Course I did, Abby. We went on two rides and both of them were miserable."

Abby smiled at that, "They weren't! I rather enjoyed the way you handled the idiots on the wheel, you always know just how to make me laugh, Connor, and I'm guessing I enjoyed the roller coaster much more than you did. Maybe the fair wasn't what I thought it would be, but you didn't ruin anything. In fact, you've made me feel pretty darn special today, Con, going on that ride just for me when you were that scared of it." She leaned over and gave him a small peck on the cheek.

For a moment Connor froze. Abby had just _kissed_ him! On the cheek, but it was a kiss. A silly smile appeared on his face. He moved his hand to his cheek, about to cover the spot where she had pecked him, but stopped in his tracks as her words sank in. "I wasn't _scared_, Abs," Connor tried to save his reputation. "It's just that all that turning over, speeding up and those sharp curves made me feel pretty sick."

Abby bit back her grin, "You were great, nonetheless."

* * *

For Connor, the queasy feeling increased again on their drive back. He felt even more miserable when he stepped out of the car than he had at the carnival. He retreated to his room and didn't even bother to undress before he slipped into his bed, while Abby headed straight to the kitchen to make him some tea. She felt sorry for her friend, yet she was so proud that he'd gone onto the rollercoaster just for her.

With two cups of steaming beverage in her hands, Abby climbed up the stairs to the loft. For a moment she just stared at the sight of Connor. His eyes were closed and he didn't move, his face paler than she had ever seen it before. Quietly she sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for him to open his eyes. When he saw the tea in her hands, Connor sat up carefully.

"You do look a little green around the gills," She teased him with a soft tone and tenderness in her eyes.

"Heard that's the newest trend," Connor joked halfheartedly.

In silence, they slowly drank their tea and when Connor was done, Abby took his cup back. "You should get some sleep, Con. Don't want the ARC to go without both of us." A

smile appeared on her face, but Connor saw the sadness behind it. "Abby, I.."

"Don't Connor, I told you it's fine," She cut in and quickly got up. "Have a good night."

* * *

"So, Connor, what does Abby say about her ADD disaster?" Stephen asked him the next day. Connor had been feeling much better when he'd gotten up and that was probably a good thing with the morning they'd had. An anomaly had brought him into work two hours earlier than normal and, just when they were heading back to the ARC, a second one had opened. Nothing carnivorous had come through either, but the team was exhausted when they finally sat down to lunch. Connor was right starved and he'd barely noticed Stephen and Nick beside him as he stared eagerly at his sandwich, until Stephen caught his attention with the question that, while it wasn't totally unexpected, it still caught him off guard in the moment.

"Not much," he answered with his mouth full, hoping the subject would soon be dropped.

"Well, I still can't believe she was so thoughtless to forget about the detector. She shouldn't have unplugged it in the first place. Thought she's worked here long enough to know about the importance of the ADD!" Stephen had nearly talked himself into rage. While he did so, Conner deflated. He felt the eyes of the professor on him, but didn't bother to look at him. He knew he had told Abby that he'd not bring the subject back up here at the ARC, but he didn't want them to have a bad impression of her. Anger rose inside him when the volley of words from Stephen didn't stop.

Suddenly he jumped up, his mind set. "You_ really_ think Abby did it!?" His voice was harsh; his fist hit the table, "Gosh Stephen, have you ever paid even _a bit_ attention to Abby? You really think she's be so thoughtless as to leave the ADD unplugged?" He nearly yelled. "It was_ me _as who did it! She only said that to protect me." With that Connor turned on his heels and slammed the door shut behind him.

With brisk steps, Connor walked straight to Lester's office and knocked on the door, but went in without waiting for an answer. "It was me. Abby didn't unplug the ADD," he said before Lester had the chance to lecture him about entering the room uninvited, or before the courage would leave him.

Lester stared at him, while keeping his expression unreadable. The seconds turned into minutes and Connor's pulse began to race. He was waiting for the ultimate outburst. Instead, the head of the ARC eventually stood up and walked around the table. "Then you're suspended for two weeks." He said quietly as he passed Connor and opened the door, "And now you'd better leave the building, before I forget myself again and become a lot angrier than I seem just now."

With his head hanging, Connor sneaked past his boss.

"Oh and Temple, tell Miss Maitland to come to my office tomorrow, first thing in the morning."

* * *

In the hallway, Cutter stepped into his way. "You told Lester?"

Connor only nodded, unable to meet the professor's eyes as he patted him on the back encouragingly. Together they walked towards the entrance. "I'm impressed you did that," said Cutter with an honest smile. "Though let me guess, Abby won't be too pleased when she finds out."

For the first time, Connor looked at the man in front of him. "No."

"Well then, bring flowers home." The Scot winked at him.

Connor, liking the advice, straightened up. "That might be a good idea."

* * *

A good half hour later, Connor turned the key around and stepped into the flat. He had picked up a huge bouquet of the most colourful flowers they had had at the florists. Abby looked up from the book she was reading when Connor entered the living room.

"You told them," she stated matter-of-factly.

Connor flopped onto the sofa, "I couldn't keep quiet, Abs. I tried, really, but then Stephen started on about how heedless your action was and that he'd expected a lot more from you and when he just kept on, I blurted it out. Abby, I don't want anyone to think anything bad about you, especially when it was my fault to begin with."

Abby bit back the smile, touched by his actions. "I should be mad at you. I told you not to do so."

"I know," Connor replied. " And I got suspended for two weeks. Lester said to tell you to come to his office in the morning, tomorrow." His gaze fell onto the flowers and with a sheepish smile he offered her the bunch. "They're for you."

The blonde raised her eyebrows, "As an apology for not listening to me?"

"Nah, can't really say I'm all that sorry."

She took the bouquet and sniffed at them. "Why'd you do it?" she asked, not averting her eyes from the flowers.

"I told you, I didn't want them to think badly about you."

"Yeah, I know, but why?" She looked up again and caught his gaze. "Why?"

Connor felt his heartbeat increase, his stomach cast a somersault. "Because, Abs, you're my best friend?" His answer was more a question, as if he wanted to know if he said the right thing.

Abby held his eyes, "That's all? Really?"

Her questions frustrated him; by now she should really know how he felt for her. "Gosh Abby, of course that's not all. I'd do anything to protect you. I love you, don't I?" His eyes widened immediately, and he was already searching for a way to take it back when he saw the huge smile forming on Abby's face. Before he knew what was happening, she leaned in and kissed him softly.

"Thank you," she whispered against his lips.

They broke apart moments later, "Since we both have a free afternoon, how about we repeat the evening at the carnival, skipping the roller coaster this time?" Abby suggested with a small smirk.

"Sounds good," he replied, eager to agree to anything after that kiss.

* * *

This time at the carnival, Abby slipped her hand into Connor's and didn't let go the entire time.


End file.
